Renewal of support is requested for a program of research on basic processes in children's acquisition of adaptive social behavior and cognition. The emphasis is on the development of self-monitoring and self-control, and the way these intersect with children's willingness and ability to cope with environmental requirements and adult demands. Projects within the program propose to study self-regulatory processes as they affect cognition (perception, memory, comprehension, communication and inference), motivation, and frustration tolerance. The renewal application reflects a growing interest in detecting relatively stable individual dispositions which may be related to children's readiness to achieve self-regulation and develop "intrinsic" motivation. Both biological and social factors (e.g., within-family socialization processes) are considered as possible sources of these individual dispositions.